Deepest Cave on Hispaniola Discovered in Haiti

Haiti’s National Bureau of Ethnology recently revealed the discovery of an important new cave in south-eastern Haiti’s La Visite National Park.

First explored in February by French cavers, Français Olivier Testa, Jeff Fabriol and Carole Deviller, the cave was found to be 938 meters (3077 feet) long and 262 meters (860 feet) deep. That makes it the deepest cave on the Hispaniola, the island which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic.

Described as spacious and sporty, the vertical cave, complete with its own small underground river, has tentatively been dubbed “Marie Louise Boumba” in honor of Marie Louise, the wife of Henri Christophe, founder of the nation.

The discovery came as part of an ongoing project organized by the Bureau of Ethnology and supported by Françoise Canez Augustus, Lucienne Deschamps, Seguin, UNESCO and the French Federation of Speleology to research Haiti’s cultural heritage. Since it began in 2009, more than 150 caves have been explored.